Control Me

4

PART 1

Emiko, 16

Akeno stands in front of me, one arm leaning against the top of the doorway while his free hand holds onto the door knob. His hair is a messy curly bun thrown on top of his head while the loose ringlets frame the shadowed edges of his maturing face.

He wears a simple t-shirt, one that stretches around the muscle he's been packing on, and he's clad in dark colored pajama pants that hangs low on his waist. My eyes drag back up to his piercing gray eyes and the freckles splattered recklessly along the bridge of his nose.

I admire him, committing every single detail of his face, his words, and his voice to memory before I whisper back an airy, "Hi."

"You couldn't sleep either?" I hear his deep voice cut through the dark void of the creepy hallway.

It's currently one o'clock in the morning and I should be asleep right now but I can't seem to turn my brain off.

I had been tossing and turning in my bed for hours before I decided to get up and sneak out of my room. It was risky, really risky and with all the super hearing going on inside the castle walls, one wrong step or loud tumble and I'd be caught red handed.

Despite all of my trepidations I slipped out of my room and tiptoed down the long narrow hallway. It doesn't make me feel any better that Elliot recently discovered my fear of ghosts and successfully convinced me that the castle was in fact haunted. Ever since then I've avoided walking the halls by myself. And when I do every creak in the floorboards or gust of wind freaks me out.

"Are you going to let me in or not?" I huff out impatiently, yet my voice trembles at the end. I was scared as hell, there was probably a ghosting standing right behind me.

Akeno simply glances down at me without a care in the world and rubs a hand tiredly through the fluffy curls tickling his nose. "Ask nicely."

I purse my lips and pull the sheet tighter around my shoulders. Any other time I might have put up a fight but I didn't have time for the ghosts haunting this God-forsaken castle to come snatching me away.

I take a nervous glance over my shoulder. "Please." I force the sweetest smile I could possibly muster in hopes that he would give me grace. What I actually want to do is wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze.

He gives me a dry look that tells me he's unconvinced I actually mean what I say. Despite that he takes a step back just enough for me to squeeze through the space between the door and his body. "Thank you." I throw back as I scurry towards his bed and lie down comfortably. The tension immediately leaves my body once I am enveloped in warmth.

"Did I wake you?" I ask, stealing a pillow for myself. Akeno closes the door behind him and slips in bed beside me.

"Sort of, I was beginning to fall asleep." He admits.

"Is it because of that thing?"

"Sort of, you?"

"Kinda." I shrug. "Do you want to talk about it?" I ask, peering at him through my lashes.

"Talking about it won't make a difference." Akeno sighs, slips an arm underneath his head and stares up at the ceiling. I do the same, our shoulders pressing against one another while we both stare at nothing in particular.

My gaze eventually glides to the full moon sitting high in the sky while its deep blue hue blankets us. A light summer breeze kicks the drapes open and if I tilted my head far enough I'd be able to see all of Unity's city lights.